A jamais
by Ymaconis
Summary: The Doctor wasn't the only one to survive the Time War. Two young renegades prove this when they give Rose a way back, and it's not long before the adventures start up again. But there are secrets being kept, secrets that could affect everyone...
1. Chapter 1

**Finally figured out a good way to write out my Doctor Who story idea. YAY! **

**On the downside, in spite of all my secret schemes and rather hazardous plots, I do not own Doctor Who. And believe-me-you, when it comes to crazy plans thought up inside a minute, I'm your girl. Always have to shoot down the crazy global-conquest ideas I come up at a rate of a dozen an hour. But sadly, the plots to take over DW (the new series at least) aren't working. If one did, my fan-chars would be canon characters, David Tennant would have stayed the Doctor, Doomsday would have ended differently, and even if Rose still got stuck in an alternate dimension, she would have stayed with the **_**real **_**Doctor in Journey's End, assuming it happened, or have come back during Midnight so she could scare the other **_**Crusader 50**_** passengers with her protectiveness of the Doc… 10.5 wouldn't have existed, especially not to stick in an alternate reality with Rose. And if anyone got stuck in the TARDIS in JE, it would have been Rose, not Donna, and just so Bad Wolf could come back. But sadly, none of that is canon, proving that I do not own Doctor Who. …it would make for a great birthday present though...**

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

"...and how the heck are you so calm about this? In case you missed it the first time, we have crashed on some unknown planet, all because you didn't listen when I said to stay away from the black hole! What good is three years' worth of power if we don't know where we are?"

Rose signaled for her team to stay where they were, crawling through the grass to get a look at the people from the alien spaceship that crashed. She hoped that they were friendly, because her superior at Torchwood wanted these aliens brought in no matter what. Their craft had literally appeared out of nowhere on the radar, which meant they had to have some kind of cloaking device.

"I know where we are, Emrys. Earth, just not _our _Earth. Sorta," a girl's voice said, and although she still couldn't see the speaker, if Rose had to guess, she would put the girl at her teens in age. "There was a rip between dimensions. This, Emrys, is where the Cybermen came from. And do you remember what else is here?"

"This is the Cybermen world?" the male, Emrys, asked, and Rose was able to get in a position so she could see the speakers. The boy had curly black hair, while the girl had long brown hair with an obvious red tinge which was pulled back in a ponytail. And slightly surprising were the ages. Neither of them could have been over twenty-five by human standards. _Of course, some other people could also pass for far less than their actual age,_ Rose thought somewhat bitterly.

"Oh, you and that brilliant, beautiful mind of yours, Seren!" Emrys shouted happily, lifting the girl off the ground and spinning her around. Then he paused, holding her at arm's length. "We didn't crash, did we?"

"Nope," Seren said. "Oh, and I know you're there, Rose Tyler. A bit hard to find, you are. Bad enough we're warping across all of time and space trying to find the Doctor, but trying to find a way into a parallel dimension? Definitely harder."

"How did you know I was there?" Rose asked, suspicious.

"It's comes with the territory," Seren said, shrugging. "Of course, you did travel with the Doctor, and as far as I know, he isn't even aware that we exist… So I guess I can't blame you for not realizing and the fact I had to create a Time Drive out of stolen Time Agency tech wouldn't help in the recognition process… Bet even the Doctor will be a bit confused!"

"We're Time Lords," Emrys explained, seeing Rose's confused expression. "I'm seventy years old, but Seren is only eighteen, as in actually eighteen. Yet she outsmarts almost every single 'adult' Time Lord and contacts this guy who yanks the both of us off Gallifrey before the Time Lock goes up. Since then we've been using that crazy little ship to hop about the universe."

"My ship does NOT hop!" Seren shouted, turning on Emrys. "The _Kirligo _is a highly sensitive ship, and if you keep insulting it, I will kick you out. I'd like to see you find the Doctor on your own. 'Sides, it's not my fault that you fail to understand the concept of the Time Drive. And before you say anything, there's a good reason I refuse to use the T.D. and Warp at the same time. Anything faster than standard space speed could punch a hole in the Time Vortex."

"Wait a minute," Rose said. "He said you were eighteen… How do you know all that?"

"She never says," Emrys said. "She just applies her knowledge, never explains where she got it from. I haven't got a clue where she learned to fly, but it's a good thing she did, because there hadn't been TARDIS license tests since before I was 'born'."

"Look, let's not go into a dissection of how messed up the Time lords got during the Time War," Seren said. "We've only got four hours before the hole we came through closes, and I really don't want to have to search this universe for another… Do you have any clue how long that takes? 'Sides, the sooner we're back, the sooner we can say 'bye-bye' to the mopey Doc, not that we ever said hello in the first place, but still; cos he'll have his Rose back. Or did you think I was trying to find a way over here just to say hello?" The last question was directed at Rose, who stared wide-eyed as she realized what was being offered.

"You… you came here just to find _me_?" Rose asked in disbelief. "I… I don't what to say…"

"Can it wait 'til we are back in our dimension?" Seren asked. "Cos now we only have three hours, fifty eight minutes, and… thirty seconds."

Rose nodded, words suddenly failing her. "I just need to grab some stuff and say good-bye, but… Don't go anywhere."

"I'm assuming you've going to go back to your team and then proceed to waste a good half an hour getting back to your home, so I've got a faster way," Seren said, and Rose only now realized how short the girl was. She was five-six, tops, possibly shorter. "Tell your team to go back to Torchwood, and the three of us can just go straight to the Tyler estate. Vortex manipulator," she explained, tapping the device on her wrist. "Bought this one, stole the other six I needed for the Time Drive."

Rose did so, and even though she didn't like the feeling of this particular method of transport, her spirits were unfazable. She finally had a way back to the Doctor, even if it came at the hands of a possible time-travelling petty criminal.

"I just stole the parts cos the TA wouldn't have sold me them in a trillion years, but they didn't know it was me, which is why I was able to convince them to sell me my manipulator," Seren said, and Rose was surprised to find herself at the place she still wasn't able to call her home, even after almost three years. "Bit more of a telepath than most Time Lords," Seren explained at the slightly confused look she got. "But I really suggest you go say goodbye and all, because we ain't got all the time in the universe. Hmm, now there's a concept… A Time Lord running out of time. The ultimate in irony. That happened, actually…"

"Go," Emrys said. "She does this a fair bit. Get your stuff, say goodbye, all that. We'll wait here."

Seren just nodded, now muttering indistinctly to herself. However, she did slip the back pack off her shoulder and hand to Rose. "It's bigger on the inside," Seren said before she resumed her musing.

Rose wasted no time packing her stuff, although it hurt a bit more than she thought it would to tell her mother goodbye, knowing she could never come back.

"Make sure Tony knows about me, would ya?" Rose asked of Jackie.

"Of course," Jackie promised, tears flowing. "He'll know all about you and the Doctor… I knew this was going to happen, you know. Someday, you were going to find a way back to him. And I'm so glad you did. Yes, Rose, I'll miss you, but I've seen you without the Doctor. Just… Be careful, Rose."

"Always, Mum," Rose promised, hugging Jackie, tears streaking down her face. "I love you."

"I know," Jackie said. "But you love him, too."

Rose just nodded. After another hug, she pulled away, walking back out to where Seren and Emrys waited.

"Got everything? Said your farewells?" Seren asked. "Fantastic. That hole we came through is deteriorating faster than I thought it would. We need to go." A flash, caused by the manipulator, and they were back in the clearing, the sleek black ship parked at the opposite end. "Tada! The _Kirligo_. Once a basic spaceship, now the best non-TARDIS time machine there is!" Seren said, the pride unmistakable in her voice. "Tried to turn it into a TARDIS, in fact."

"How?" Rose asked as Emrys toke her bag from her to put in one of the spare cabins. As far as Rose could tell, this small ship with its five cabins was just that, a spaceship, not a TARDIS with its dimensionally transcendental interior.

"I've got a chunk of what you grow TARDISes from, it looks a bit like coral, and I'm trying to hook it up to the Time Drive," Seren said. "Unfortunately, it didn't work. And I didn't a very big chunk, either. It burnt on me… I just… I wanted Emrys to have something more than a fob watch to remember Gallifrey by."

"You love him," Rose said. Seren just nodded, hazel eyes closed. Rose checked over her shoulder to make sure Emrys wasn't there, and she ducked down to whisper in Seren's ear, "And wanna know what I think? I think he loves you right back." Seren looked up at her, eyes clearing displaying her shock. "I saw how he was looking at you, Seren."

"Ok," Emrys said, and Seren quickly hopped into the pilot's seat before he noticed her and Rose talking together. "Rose, your stuff is in the cabin next to Seren's. So, got anything?"

"Let's get back to our universe first, thanks," Seren said curtly, engines whirring to life. "Rose, you take the gunner station. Hopefully we won't have to use the ion cannons, but better safe than sorry, eh? Emrys, you on navigation. I need to know the instant we re-enter our universe, because I need to use the warp and Time Drive simultaneously to get back through the window, and we'll being coming out where we came in, meaning I've got to outmaneuver a black hole… Blimey. I sound like a battle captain," she said as they took off.

"It was a battle ship," Emrys offered, trying to be helpful. "Besides, I would rather have you as Captain than someone like the Master or something. Now, there was a nutter…"

"I'll explain and soon as we're in the clear," Seren promised. "You know, we really need to pick someone else up. I need a co-pilot for situations like these…"

"Exiting Earth's atmosphere now," Emrys said, and Rose was relieved to notice that the controls were displayed in English. "Approaching the window at a speed of forty relms."

"Relms?" Rose asked.

"System to measure the speed when time-travelling we made up," Seren explained. "Emrys didn't get much chance to learn the actual term, and I was too busy trying to listen to what the Schism was telling me."

"What?" Rose asked, now thoroughly confused.

"The Untempered Schism," Emrys explained. "It's a gap in the fabric of reality. You can see into the Time Vortex, which I really suggest not doing, and it hurts. A lot. But apparently some people can hear something when the stare into it, which is required as an initiation ritual thing on Gallifrey. Legend says the Master, who is a nutter if there ever was one, starting hearing 'the drums' then, but I know for a fact Seren heard something. Passing through window now."

"Hang everyone, I can't guarantee the stability of this bit," Seren said, shoving the control yoke forward. The ship lurched, and Rose grabbed the gunner controls to stabilize herself. Luckily they weren't active at the moment, or there was a chance she could have accidently fired the ion cannons. A flash, and suddenly the ship jerked as the black hole tried to pull them in. "I don't think so!" Seren shouted, flipping a switch which cut the Time Drive power. "And… We've clear!" Just to emphasize that point, Seren pulled the _Kirligo _to stand-still, and it stayed where it was.

"We did it," she whispered, spinning the chair around to better see her fellow ship mates. "Oh my gosh, we actually did it!" Rose was surprised when she leapt up and proceeded to pull an impressive flip. "YES! Oh, there are no words to describe this!" The next thing Rose knew, Seren had enveloped her in a fierce hug. "Oh, so many things to tell the Doctor, but so much more to show him… Oh, come on!" Seren stormed over to the main controls, glaring at a gauge, forcing Rose to wonder if Seren might be bipolar. "Dimension hopping should not just about drain the ship! Ah, well, looks like we need a proper refuel this time. Say, Rose, you wouldn't happen to know where I could find a Rift, would you? Maybe somewhere in England, say?"

"There's one in Cardiff," Rose said. "The Doctor stopped there once to refuel. That was back when he had the big ears…"

"Ninth regeneration," Seren said, nodding as she inputted coordinates into the ship's computers. "He's going through 'em a bit fast. On ten already, and he ain't even close to half the normal life span for a Time Lord… Each regeneration should last at least 200 years, and yet he's only 907 and has burnt through ten of his regenerations. Has he forgotten that he's only got a limited amount? Sure, he's got a few more than most Time Lords because of a glitch during the looming process, but still. His ninth regeneration lasted him what, a year, tops? He better start being a bit more careful, because I don't care if that blasted glitch caused him to be all different, it does not give him an excuse to waste regenerations because he has no sense of self-preservation…"

"Glitch?" Rose asked.

"I'll explain once we land…" Seren said. "But I believe we promised to explain a couple of other things first. Like the Master, for instance."

"He was a Time Lord," Emrys explained as Seren got the ship on a course to Cardiff before hitting auto-pilot. "He went mad when he was young, claiming that the drums wouldn't stop. Seren says that there actually a beat of four repeating itself over and over in his mind, but I'm a bit skeptical. After all, if the Schism is going to tell you something, it's not going to be something stupid like a drum-beat."

Seren bit her lip, and Rose got the distinct impression that the girl knew exactly what the Master had heard, but wasn't keen on sharing. "He and the Doctor were friends once. Think the Doctor still thinks of him as a friend in some ways, even after the Master spent I don't know how many years trying to kill the Doctor… The only thing I can say in the Master's favor is that at least he didn't steal a museum piece."

"What?" Rose asked, but Seren was back at the helm, flicking on the cloaking device as she scanned Cardiff for a place to land that was both hidden and on the Rift.

"I'll have to explain later," Seren said. She suddenly frowned, yet Rose could tell that she was also surprised. "What the hell? Somebody's sending us a transmission! Rose, are there any alien-related organization in Cardiff that you know of?"

"Not in this universe," Rose replied honestly.

"Well, then let's see what these people have to say for themselves then," Seren said, flipping a switch to activate a communications link.

**0-0-0-0-0**

**If somebody really can't figure out who it is contacting the **_**Kirligo **_**crew, I'm going to smash my head against the nearest wall…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, it can be said that this story is slowly turning into a dangerous obsession for me… I've got notes, outlines, rough drafts… Everything for this one story. It's a bit scary. And just so people know, the Torchwood bit of this is from before Owen goes all undead. That's just a bit too weird for my tastes, so that won't be incorporated into any of my stories. **

**0-0-0-0-0**

"Hello, this is the _Kirligo _under command of Seren Lokaci demanding that you identify yourself under regulations of the Shadow Proclamation. And before you ask, no, I don't remember with article that would be, but I know it's in there somewhere."

"This is Torchwood Three in Cardiff," a male voice that was vaguely familiar to Rose responded. "State your intentions for being in Britain."

"Oh, so you're Torchwood. See, that actually makes sense, putting an organization for defense of hostile aliens in a location to monitor the Rift, seeing as that would create a hotspot for aliens to come through," Seren said. "And we're just passing through, honest. Used a bit more energy than planned in avoiding getting sucked into a black hole, and now we've got to refuel. It'll only take three or four days, then we'll be on our way. Trying to track somebody down, actually. But… You're Torchwood. I think it would be best for both of us if you just let us refuel and be on our merry way, and in return we won't go telling the world that two out of three of us are aliens. But again, you're Torchwood, so what kind of aliens we are is going to remain confidential. Do we have a deal, mister…?"

"Captain Jack Harkness at your service."

Rose leapt up, pulling the radio away from Seren, ignoring her indignant cry. "Jack? Is that really you?"

Meanwhile, in the Hub, Jack felt as if someone had just kicked his legs out from under him. "Rose?"

"Yes, yes, it's me, Jack!" Rose shouted, tears beginning to slip down her cheeks. "Oh, you have no clue how good it is to hear from you! Oh, have you seen him? Do you know how he is, Jack?"

"Same here, Rose," Jack said. "And I ran into him a while back… He's getting better than he was, at the very least. But he still isn't what he was, Rose."

"Someone in Torchwood who knows the Doctor," Seren said, taking the radio back with a quick glare at Rose, "and from the sound of it, was a companion at one point. Oh, Rassilon, Emrys, I think the universe got turned upside down."

"Wait a minute," Jack said, suspicious because of Seren's choice of words. "How do you know the Doctor? And why do you talk like he does?"

"Been trying to find him," Seren answered, calm and collected. "And as for the second question, I'll make a deal with you. Let me park my ship somewhere to refuel, and I'll explain. Plus you and Rose could catch up, since it seems you know each other."

"How big your ship?" Jack asked.

"On the outside? About the size of a station wagon," Seren said. "It's dimensionally transcendental, well, to an extent, anyway. More the size of a double-decker bus inside."

"If you feel comfortable with it, you can park inside the Hub," Jack said. "But you'll have to promise not to steal our other guest's ship."

"Why would I want to do that if I have one of the best non-sentient spaceships ever built?" Seren asked. "And it's not boasting, bud, because I didn't think it was very good until someone told me so. Er… I don't think I ever caught his name… I need precise coordinates, though. You give me them, and I can teleport this puppy into your 'Hub'. I've got short range teleportation abilities on the _Kirligo_."

After a few more minutes, Seren hit a button, and the entire ship warped down into the Hub. As soon as Seren had landed, Rose was out the door, and Jack caught her in a crushing hug. "Oh, Rose, I missed you…"

Seren came out, but her happy expression changed when she saw Jack, turning into one of shock. "You're a Fact!" she squeaked, and wrenched something out of Emrys' hand before any of the Torchwood team could see what it was. "And… Time Lord!" Seren was suddenly racing through the Hub, ignoring Jack as he ordered her to stop.

"Don't you dare pull out a gun," Emrys warned, yanking out a pen when Jack moved his hand to his waist. "She won't hurt anyone… Unless it's somebody like... Well, let's hope it's not that one nutter we met. If it's him, she'll punch him in the face or something, but she won't do any real damage. It's just not in her nature."

Seren, meanwhile, wasn't aware of the conversation. She was busy, quickly zeroing in the scent of another Time Lord. She skidded to a halt when a blonde girl of about sixteen to eighteen years of age came out the lounge to avoid crashing into her, and realized sadly that it hadn't been who she had hoped it was. "Aw… You're not the Doctor… Darn. I had thought we had him this time."

What Seren didn't expect was for these words to mean something to this girl, who didn't even feel like a Time Lord, even if she was one. "You're looking for my Dad?"

"The Doctor is your dad?" Seren half-shouted, half-asked. "What?"

"Yeah. My name is Jenny. Progenation machines on Messaline," she said as mean as of an explanation.

Luckily for Jenny, Seren understood perfectly. "Well, that would explain why you can be a Time Lord without feeling like Gallifrey. Name's Seren. Me and Emrys, he's a friend of mine, we just got back from a little dimension-hopping… Takes a lot of power, that does. The fuel cells were pretty drained, so we came here to refuel. Space-time Rift, after all. And you don't find those everywhere, after all…"

"Lucky you," Jenny said light-hearted. "I didn't mean to come here. One minute, I piloting my ship through an asteroid field, next I'm crashing landing in the bay. Luckily, Torchwood was willing to let me stay here while I fix my ship. Issue is, 2008 isn't the best place to find parts for an alien spaceship. Not sure I'll be able to get flying again."

"You could come with us," Seren offered. "Emrys and Rose shouldn't mind, and even if they do, it's my ship. 'Sides, you obviously know how to fly, and I could use a copilot… Emrys is the navigator and Rose is… While, Rose can help with any aliens we run into. Plus, she knows a bit about time travel, so she could probably help with mechanics… So what do you say? Care to become a member of the _Kirligo _crew, Jenny?"

"Is there running involved?" Jenny asked.

Seren smiled. "Yeah, you could say that… There'll probably be more once we find the Doc, though… Rose is an old friend of his."

"Well then, Time Lady Jenny reporting for duty, ma'am," Jenny said, liking Seren already. The brunette was a nice person, and she had a good sense of humor.

"Welcome aboard, Jenny," Seren said. "Well, we're not actually on board yet, but you get the picture. Quick warning, it's bigger on the inside. Time Lord tech and all. Uh, actually Time Agency tech initially, but now it's my tech, and therefore Time Lord tech. Did I mention that Emrys and I are Time Lords?"

"Now you did," Jenny said. "Dad's going to be surprised when we find him. He thought he was the only one left."

"That's because he never met me," Seren said, and Jenny realized that for all her wonders, it seemed Seren could be a bit cocky. "Or he would have known that I was not getting sucked into that mess, and therefore it wouldn't come as a shock to him when we finally track him down. But alas, I've never met the Doctor. Pity, really. I've heard so much about the guy, but never met him."

"Well, it's obvious you plan to rectify that," Jenny said. "But I have to ask… Is it just because you're a Time Lady? Or is there something more to it?"

"Maybe," Seren said with a smirk. "But either way, if I have a second objective, and I don't share, then it's not your business, is it? I can promise you this, though. I'm not one of the bad guys. I just… I don't know. I'm only eighteen, if Gallifrey was still around, I would be enrolled in the Academy for several more years at the least. But it's gone, and I really don't know what I should be doing… Come on. We'll get you situated in one of the spare cabins."

Jenny followed Seren with some trepidation, because she just couldn't figure this girl out.

"See?" Emrys said when Seren came back to the _Kirligo_. "Did anyone get hurt? No. Did anything get blown up? No again. Should you have listened when I told you Seren wasn't going to tear the Hub apart? Yes."

Jack scowled. "I believe you said that if I let you park your ship here, I would get any explanation. So start explaining." Rose dug her elbow into his ribs. "Please."

"Emrys and me are Time Lords," Seren said. "So is Jenny here. Happy? Cos even if you aren't I'm going to go look around. I'll stay in the Hub, and I won't take anything. You have my word. Oh, and Emrys? Give me the pen and you can have your 'sonic marker' back."

"What?" Jack asked, but then he saw that Seren was just teasing Emrys. What she had pulled from her pocket wasn't a marker, but at first glance it could be mistaken for one.

Emrys dropped the pen in Seren's outstretched hand, preferring the slighter more powerful of the two sonic devices.

"Here, Rose," Seren said, tossing the pen in towards her. "Have a sonic pen. Picked it up after just missing the Doctor with the whole Adipose thing. He didn't want it and chucked it in a bin, and I figured it couldn't hurt to have a spare sonic, even it doesn't compare to my own."

"Oh?" Rose asked mockingly. "And what do you 'ave? A sonic telly remote?"

"Nah," Seren said. "Those aren't really practical, because no one carries TV remotes with them everywhere. It's a sonic torch. Far less conspicuous. Now, like I said, I'm going to explore. Later. And Emrys, make sure they stay away from the console. And all of you keep out of my room!" With that, the short teen spun and wandered off through the Hub, ignoring Jack's team as they watched her in fascination.

Jenny watched until Seren ducked around and a corner and out of sight before she shifted her gaze to Jack uneasily. "I still can't help but feel nervous around you, Captain. You just…"

"He's a fact," Emrys said. "A fixed point in time. And half the reason Seren's off exploring is so because he," a nod in Jack's direction, "was giving her a headache. Seren and I kind of accidentally established a telepathic connection one time… Long story."

"I'll make a deal with you, though," Seren said, and the group turned to find her on the walkway that allowed for people to reach the second story of rooms. "I'll explain as much as I can if you'll tell me why you have a pterodactyl flying around in here."

"What?" Emrys asked, following Seren's line of vision. "You know what; I'm not even going to get involved in this. A pterodactyl… Why do these things happen to us?"

"Because the universe loves me," Seren said, smirking. "'Sides, life would be boring otherwise. And I don't do boring, dull, or monotone. Or anything that's not fun. So, what's the story behind the prehistoric flyer?"

"She came through the Rift, and we couldn't exactly let it fly about Cardiff," Jack said.

"Fair enough," Seren said. "So, Captain Jack Harkness, I believe you have questions, and I have answers. Care to take our conversation elsewhere, because I for one don't fancy having everyone over-hear everything. And don't worry, the _Kirligo_ isn't going anywhere for at least three days, so you and Rose can catch up later."

"Go on," Rose said. "I could use a nap, anyway. And I'm not going anywhere, Jack."

Jack looked at her, unease in his eyes. "You better still be here once I'm done talking to her, Rosie."

"I will be, Jack," Rose promised. "Now go talk to Seren, and Jack… No flirting. Because," she yanked him in close to whisper in his ear, "she secretly likes Emrys, and I'm going to try getting them together. So keep your hands off."

"Yes, ma'am," Jack said teasingly. He snickered when Rose forcibly shoved him towards Seren, glaring daggers at the American.

Seren watched the occurrence with a carefully neutral expression. Although she didn't know what Rose had whispered to Jack, she was aware of the fact that their presence was confusing the rest of Torchwood. And although she wasn't one for the center of attention (all the time), she did have a bit of a dramatic flair.

Which is why Seren, instead of using the stairs like a normal person, used the shorter route by hopping over the rail and landing on the floor, knowing that would create a slight fuss.

"Oi, whatever happened to not drawing attention to yourself?" Emrys asked, although his tone was teasing, even if he did look properly offended when Seren rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.

Jack just sighed as he ushered Seren into a conference room, already resigned to the fact that he was dealing with the equivalent of children by Time Lord standards, but at the same time none of them really could be thought of as children, seeing as they obviously knew enough to pilot a spaceship with teleport capabilities.

As soon as the door as shut, Seren turned to Jack, her smirk dissolving. "I know you have questions, so start asking, because the sooner we get this little interrogation over, the sooner I can get back to my ship, and back to finding the Doctor."

Jack sighed. _Yup, definitely going to take a bit, _he thought.

**0-0-0-0-0**

**Tada, chapter two is finished! And the rest of Torchwood will show up next chapter, but this one was about bringing Jenny in the plot and the happy Jack/Rose reunion that I've noticed seems to happen before the Doctor/Rose reunion in the ones that involve Jack… It's a trend I've noticed, and I must admit, there is some validity to it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yes, definitely an obsession…**

**0-0-0-0-0**

"How old are you?" Jack asked, figuring that was probably the safest place to start.

"Eighteen," Seren said. "Legit eighteen, not the physical appearance only. Emrys is seventy, but as he would say if he was here right now, I'm clearly in charge and even though I'm younger, I know more than even another Time Lord my age should. Next question."

Jack frowned. "Why is your ship startlingly familiar to a Time Agency ship, and how did you get your hands on a Vortex Manipulator?"

Seren flashed a smile. "See? That's more like it! And to answer your question, I stole the ship, modified enough so they don't realize it used to be one of theirs, and may have been the reason behind a shipment of Manipulators turning up a crate short. Seems that theft is starting to integrate its way into our society."

"What?" Jack asked, confused by her last statement. "What do you mean, integrating its way into your society? Are you trying to say that Time Lords don't steal stuff, because the Doctor does so on a semi-regular basis."

"Exactly," Seren said. "It's one of his bad habits. Started with stealing a museum piece and never stopped. Really, it wouldn't have been so much harder to steal something that hadn't been retired because it was old? I mean, seriously. Sure, she gets the job done, but how many side trips does she demand he makes?"

"What?" Jack asked, now completely confused. "You're making it sound like he stole the TARDIS or something."

"How else are you going to get one if you can't pass your flight test?" Seren asked. "And it's not bad enough that he stole the TARDIS, but he just had to steal a Type 40 TARDIS, didn't he? They're ancient!"

Now Jack knew he was lost. Luckily, Seren suddenly frowned, hissing softly as she backed up from him a bit. "Diable gi, I really have to work on that… You're enough of a headache with my mental barriers up; I don't need to be accidentally dropping them because I don't practice enough. Course, that isn't entirely your fault, I suppose…"

"Do all Time Lords have a perchance for rambling, or is that just the ones I know?" Jack asked lightly, wanting to dispel the temporary unease.

Seren smirked. "The rambling and the super smarts are a package deal," she said, trying not to laugh. "I'd offer you an upgrade, but I don't think your little human brain can accommodate. Even if it is a 51st century human brain." Suddenly Seren went rigid, eyes unfocused. After a second however, she leapt into the air, twirling around in a move too fast for Jack to follow. "Oh, that is a surprise! A happy surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. Why didn't I see that? Ah, well, who cares, right?"

Jack blinked in shock. The question had caught him off guard, especially since he didn't know what Seren was so happy about. _Can Time Lords be bipolar? _

_Yes, yes they can,_ Jack thought less than thirty seconds later when Seren hugged before leaping back with a yelp, flipping her head back and forth so fast Jack was surprised she didn't get whiplash. "Urgh, bad move, chica. Not to self: do not touch the Fact ever again if possible, and if not possible, maintain minimal contact necessary."

"That hurt you physically?" Jack asked, surprised by this. _The Doctor didn't seem to have any issues with contact,_ he thought, but had the sense to guess that saying that wouldn't be a good idea.

"No, but mental attacks can hurt worse than physical injuries," Seren said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Ow. I feel like someone mentally kicked me in the head… I've had that happen, just so you know; well, the mental equivalent of a kick in the head… Do you mind? I need some time to get my head back in order now… Shouldn't take long. Half hour, tops."

Jack, unsure of how else to respond, just nodded mutely, waving her toward the door.

"Thanks," Seren said, sounding far more chipper than she did a minute ago, pulling the door open. She paused then, cocked her head, and looked at him quizzically. "You know, give time, I might just like you, Jack Harkness."

And with that, Seren left the room, going back to her exploration of the Hub.

XXXXXX

Jenny was watching as Seren took off from the conversation she had been having with Jack, and something (probably the same instinct that got her Dad in so much trouble) made her follow the other girl, curiosity demanding to know what the brunette was up to.

"You can stop following and just come along now," Seren said suddenly, but she didn't turn around. "Time Lord, remember? Genetic coding allows us to know when another Time Lord is nearby, and not just by the scent. But the Doctor didn't tell you that, did he? Urgh, I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

"Just a bit," Jenny said with a trepid smile. "So what exactly are you trying to accomplish?"

"I made the mistake of hugging Jack too soon," Seren said. "Even though he's a Fact and all, given time, I wouldn't instinctively think he's a threat, but that'll take… Oh, anywhere between two days and a week. Half an hour was a bit too fast, though…"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you already knew that, am I right? Yet you go and do it anyway?" Jenny asked, able to offer a (semi)real smile this time.

"Oh, shut it," Seren said, and Jenny bit her lip to keep from laughing when she saw the pout Seren had. "'Sides, we all forget things now and then…"

"Some more than others?"

"Oi! I can still leave you here… Well, no I can't, but I can still… …note to self: always have a bargaining chip," Seren muttered.

Jenny couldn't help but snicker then. "Seems to me that you've been in this situation before."

"Yep." Seren's answer wasn't too revealing, but Jenny could tell that it wasn't the fondest of memories. "So why exactly were you following me in the first place, anyway?"

"I was… Curious, I guess… Just wanted to know what you were up to, really…" Jenny said.

"That must be a gene that's only getting dragged up now," Seren said. "The curiosity thing. Of course, it might just be because of whom your father is, the Doctor has a penchant for his curiosity getting him in trouble. Why else would he have to run so much? You know, when you think about it, he really should give prospective companions a brochure on what to expect… 'Running for Your Life' and 'Saving Entire Planets' would need their own sections, though…"

"That's how he described his life to me, you know," Jenny said. "'He saves planets, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures, and runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved.' He and Donna kept making jokes out of it."

"Donna would be a companion, I assume?"

"Yeah, but your friend Rose doesn't have to worry about anything," Jenny said, but then she frowned. "Weird. I just had a feeling that Dad mentioned her one time, but I know he didn't."

"Psychic link, genetic for all Time Lords, I just chose to wall off my mind to others," Seren explained. "What happened is that you just blipped in his head, which means that he's going to realize there was someone in his head, so hopefully reunions will happen a bit sooner than planned."

"Wait, Dad does know who Rose is?" Jenny asked, starting to get confused.

"Oh, hell yeah," Seren said. "In fact, she was willing to get cut off from the rest of her family, forever, just because she wanted to be with him. At the end, though, she got trapped in a parallel universe, with him stuck in this one. But lately, the walls have been cracking. So I used a quasar being given off by a black hole to make a transdimensional jump to bring her back, because, well, to be frank, the Doctor was so mopey that even I could feel it, plus I may have made a previous contract on the subject with another friend… He's a Time Lord, too, but he wears a psychic inhibitor because otherwise he can't stand being around anyone for longer than a few minutes…"

"And that keeps him hidden as well?" Jenny asked, starting to get the concept of this friend of Seren's at the very least.

"Yep. But if I know him, and I do, I can pretty much guarantee he'll show up before the _Kirligo_ is finished changing because he broke his Vortex Manipulator again. Partially because once he breaks the thing, it's all he can do. I set an automatic backup system that's locked in one my genetic signature so when it breaks, which is every couple of weeks or so, he has to come to wherever and _when_ever I am. Plus it keeps him in parallel time progression. Minimalizes the risk of creating a paradox. Nasty things, paradoxes."

"I think I understood some of that…" Jenny said. "Enough to know that your friend will probably end up making an appearance, right?"

"Correctomundo!" Seren shouted, and then instantly frowned, sticking out her tongue. "Note to self, never use that word again in this regeneration."

Jenny snickered. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I have to ask… Is there a purpose behind the beret and the sleeveless trench coat? Because while I can kinda get the first one, the second makes no sense."

"It's my style, alright? And it works for me, so… Drat, I'm being snippy again."

"Just a bit."

"Yeah, bad habit of mine, sorry… Eh… Something tells me that once you've hit what seem to be storage vaults, you've gotten a bit lost," Seren said, frowning at the piles of stuff around her. "You wouldn't happen to know where the kitchen is, would you?"

"If that's what you were looking for, you've been going in the wrong direction," Jenny said with a laugh. "Come on, I'll show you were it is… Might take a banana if Captain Flirt has any."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

XXXXXX

Emrys leaned against the _Kirligo_, eyes shut as he tried to focus solely on his Time Sense so that he could tune out the minor headache Jack was causing. Mere seconds after he had managed his goal, he was pulled out what could have been a very nice little nap (even if he was standing) by a dirty blonde haired man in his early thirties stumbling as he recovered from using his Vortex Manipulator.

"Guess I shouldn't be too surprised; Seren said you would be dropping by soon away," Emrys admitted, chuckling slightly at the disheveled look the older man had. "Figured you be a bit neater, though…"

"Shut it. I barely managed to get away from some rather angry Raxicalifallipetorians who tried to kill me for some reason to find that _**this**_ stupid thing," he flicked the Vortex manipulator on his wrist, "decided it was time to break on me. Again. Now, where and when am I, and where's Seren?"

"Torchwood Three in Cardiff, year 2008 by human standards, and Seren's somewhere in the Hub," Emrys said, used to the greeting he got. "I'm not sure where…"

A sudden scream broke the silence, the two exchanged a glance, having heard _**that**_ scream before, and then they took off towards the sound.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**Hee hee hee… I'm making wait until next time to find out what happened! Mwuahahaha! Until next time, folks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Have I really got nothing better to do than slave away writing this? …Nobody answer that!**

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

Emrys and the other, far older Time Lord reached the kitchen, the source of the scream, threw open the door and…

Emrys then groaned and knocked his head against the wall in exasperation because Seren had screamed over the presence of a pear in the fruit bowl.

Jack chose that moment to burst in himself, and he instantly froze in confusion at the strange scene greeting him. Seren was backed up against the cabinet wall, her purple-tipped sonic torch aimed at the fruit bowl. Jenny had a wooden spoon in hand and was wielding it like a baseball bat, Emrys seemed to be in disbelief, and the dirty blonde he had never seen before took once good look at the situation, rolled his eyes, snatched something out the fruit bowl, and lobbed it neatly into the trash can.

"Thanks… Karlex? When did you get here?" Seren asked, tucking her torch away her pocket. "Oh, and Jack, this is Karlexitorfallus, Time Lord, but since that's a mouthful, he goes by Karlex. He's the one that got Emrys and me off Gallifrey in time to escape the Time War. Won't say exactly how, but it had something to do with some crazy powerful psychic aliens."

"What's going on?" Rose demanded, shoving Jack aside. "Who screamed?"

Seren chuckled nervously at that. "Heh heh… Sorry. But in my defense, there was a pear! In the fruit bowl! And it was touching the _**banana**_!"

"Seren has a phobia of pears," Emrys explained. "Seems Jenny does too."

Rose smirked, biting her tongue to keep from laughing. "Five Time Lords in the whole of existence, and three of them are afraid of pears…"

"Who's the third?" Seren asked sincerely, and Rose couldn't hold back her laughter any longer.

"The Doctor!" she managed to choke out between giggles.

"Oh… So, Karlex, broke your Manipulator again, huh?" Seren asked, changing the subject and snatching a banana out of the fruit bowl.

"I did NOT break it; the blasted thing broke on its own!" Karlex protested. "Seems to be doing so faster and faster each time you 'fix it'."

"Oi, you ain't making the fact that you can't keep a simple Vortex Manipulator working and need to come asking the _kid_ for help my fault, mister," Seren said, spinning around her torch and pointing at his face.

"She has a point, Karlex," Emrys said. "You are the adult here."

"I wasn't the one who was permitted unrestricted access to all the data on Gallifrey, was I?" Karlex asked.

"How old are you again?" Seren asked. "Nearly 1,000? And you're arguing with a teenager and an infant; and infant who is constantly being placed in charge here, might I add?"

"…I refuse to answer that."

Now everyone except Jack and Karlex was laughing, Rose doubled over as she tried to contain her's. Seren herself nearly choked on her banana, having just taken a bite out of it, but managed to keep from even needing to use her respiratory bypass system. Karlex just glared at them all, and Jack seemed to be trying not to smile.

"Infant?" Jenny asked, being the first to stop laughing as the words Seren had used sunk in.

"Well, maybe not infant, but some would argue that, even for all my knowledge, age makes smarts irrelevant. Time Lords aren't considered adults until 120 years of age, so with only 18 years under my belt, strictly age-wise, I'm the relative equivalent of a human two year old. But there are other variables for that, so that may be a bit off…" Seren said, playing with her ear as she explained. "I really didn't think anyone would ask about that, so I kinda don't have a very good response. I really should have come to expect this sort of thing, though."

"Why's that?" Jenny asked.

"Because the Doctor has the ability to find trouble anywhere, while I just find weirdness."

"It's true. She once had to convince some Swedish guy that she wasn't a Celt. Weirdness sticks to that one like glue," Emrys said.

"Shut it, you," Seren said, smacking him on the arm.

"Make me."

"…do you really want to go there? Really?"

"No!"

Rose laughed. Emrys' answer had come so fast, she had a feeling it wasn't the first time the two had this type of discussion.

"Children," Karlex said with a snort, but he dodged back when Seren made to smack him. "I was only kidding!"

Again, the only two not laughing were Jack and Karlex, but this time Jack wasn't laughing because his phone had, atypically, rung in the middle of the situation.

"Captain Jack Harkness."

"_Would you please just get caller ID already, Jack? You sound like a special agent or something…"_

"Martha! Not that I'm not flattered by the call, but what prompted it… And when did I even give you my number?"

"_You didn't. The Doctor did."_

"Oh really… Why does that not surprise me? Anyway, you never answered my question, Martha Jones."

"_That's Dr. Martha Jones to you, Captain. And don't flatter yourself; you were my second choice. I tried the Doctor, but he didn't answer, and UNIT needs a bit of help with some aliens that are running wild in."_

"UNIT doesn't work with Torchwood, Martha. Do your superiors know you called me?"

"_Well… No."_

"Fantastic, see you soon. I just have to see if a few… Guests would want to come with." He clicked the phone shut, smiling at the curious looks he got. "We're headed to London to '_help' _UNIT with aliens that are running about."

"We?"

"You didn't think I was going to let a bunch of time-travelers have free reign in the Hub, did you?"

"There's an alien invasion, in London, at this very moment?" Seren asked, cutting Karlex off as he went to protest again. "And we get to go check it out?"

"If I say no…"

"Then I _**will**_ hurt you."

Jack backed up a step, making a mental note to ask Emrys and Karlex if Seren was capable of intimidating everyone she met. He still was able to laugh a bit, smiling, though. "Good. Now…"

"Trying to figure out a way for us all to get there?"

"Look, I'm sure UNIT would appreciate the alien expertise, but the attitude… I doubt it," Jack said with a chuckle.

"They dealt with the Doctor just fine," Seren muttered. "Just give your Manipulator, would ya? I can fix up the teleport part quick, but the time travel bit will take a while, and, to be frank, I'm not missing the aliens this time. Karlex, here's a teleporter that you can borrow for _**now**_. Take Emrys and Jenny; I want _reconnaissance_, ASAP."

"And who put you in charge?"

"Hmm, let's see… Time Lord vs. Human Fact… I win there, buddy, ergo, I'm in charge. Now, Manipulator. And get your team, would you? Um… How many people work here?"

"There are five of us; Gwen, Ianto, Owen, he's our medical officer, and Tosh is the… Tech-person, really," Jack said. "We'll bring Owen and Gwen; Tosh and Ianto can monitor the situation from this end."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Seren asked.

XXXXXX

About half an hour later, Seren dragged Rose across the street over to where Karlex was waiting for them, arms crossed. "What are we dealing with?"

"Luigrans," Karlex said. At Rose's confused expression, he explained further. "They're powerful psychic aliens, but luckily, they have limited effect on psi-sensitive beings such as ourselves, so as long as there's no prolonged physical contact, we'll be fine."

Rose knew that he was referring to himself, Seren, Emrys and Jenny, because the Doctor had mentioned how Time Lords were psi-sensitive, and how all psychic beings were. "So what's the plan?"

"Stop them from running wild, because that's all they're doing. They're scared, and I'm willing to bet there's wreckage of their spaceship somewhere in the vicinity," Seren said.

"Emrys and Jenny are doing their best to go unnoticed by UNIT," Karlex added. "They're just watching, as I figured you or the Fact could do the whole chit-chat thing."

"Good move," Seren said, pocketing the device she had been using to scan the area as Jack, Owen, and Gwen appeared. "Come along, Harkness. You and I need to have a word with the person in charge of UNIT. Karlex, get Jenny and Emrys, would you? The rest of you, stick close, because we're dealing with Luigrans, and they can be a bit unfriendly to species they don't know."

"Meaning?" Gwen asked.

"That if you scare them, you run the risk of getting your memory wiped by their self-defense mechanism. The amnesia lasts 24 hours, so keep the guns put away, would ya? Now, Jack, what does this 'Martha' person look like?"

"African heritage, black hair that's normally pulled back. She's a field doctor with UNIT."

"That her?" Sure enough, the distant figure was who they were looking for.

"Good eye," he praised. "Hey, Martha!"

"Oh, great, who invited Torchwood?" a soldier muttered, having recognized the (not)secret organization.

"Oh, nobody did," Seren said, and a few of the nearby UNIT members did a double-take upon noticing the youth. "Jack offered his help with your Luigran problem here, and to be honest, what kind of person would I be to refuse an opportunity to meet some of the coolest aliens capable of acute telepathy that there are? Seren Lokaci, renegade Time Lord and alien expert."

"Time Lord? Like that Doctor bloke?"

"Oh, give the man a prize." Rose flinched internally, sensing that Seren could be quite the cynical sarcasm user when she chose to be.

"Jack, who is this?" Martha asked, having approached when Jack shouted out to her.

"Martha Jones, may I introduce Seren, whose bunch of other Time Lords are somewhere about…"

"Martha!"

"_Jenny? _What the… Jack, you had better start explaining, because I saw her die on Messaline."

"15 hour post-regeneration period, so she didn't die, it just seemed like she did so that her body could heal. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say she was right at the end of the regeneration period when it happened" Seren said. "A Time Lord can't regenerate, but they can't be killed then, either… Well, I say they can't be killed, but there are a few things that would kill them… Well, I say a few… But anyway, it would seem progenation works like regeneration, so that within the first fifteen hours, you're pretty much untouchable."

"Ok, she's a Time Lord alright," Martha said with a laugh.

"Oh, and that's Emrys and Karlex. They're my friends," Seren said. "Karlex got me and Emrys off Gallifrey."

"Ah… So that explains why there are Time Lords suddenly running rampart in London."

"Yes, that's great and all, but I hope you realize that this 'alien infestation' is actually a ship full of Luigrans, which are pretty nifty aliens capable of acute telepathy. And I suggest the guns go bye-bye, Luigrans can cause amnesia for 24 hours if you scare them," Seren said, rather quickly. "What you should do is find their ship, help them fix it, and send them on their way. Luigrans are perfectly harmless, the amnesia this is a self-defense mechanism. Not to mention, any psi-sensitive humans that run into them are going to get one hell of a headache…"

"The TARDIS…" Rose whispered suddenly. A second later, the familiar _vworp vworp _filled the air.

Soon, a blue police box stood about a dozen meters away, the door facing sideways so that the Doctor wouldn't notice the group immediately, for which Rose was secretly glad for.

The Doctor stepped out, confused for a second, and Rose's breath hitches because he looks exactly the same as the day she saw him last; he even has on the same brown pinstriped suit. After a moment, a ginger woman follows him out, but even from here Rose can see it in his posture; the pain and loss, and she feels her heart break a little more.

"Dad!" The Doctor blinked and stumbled back when Jenny rushes up to fling her arms around him, and Rose can see the confusion, then realization at his daughter's existence. _His daughter…_ Jenny released him and hugs the redhead, so obviously he got a new companion after she left, one who Jenny has met. And Rose is glad. She doesn't want him to be alone.

That's when he looks up, and time itself seems to stop. Suddenly there's nothing that keeps Rose standing still, and the next thing she knows, he's met her halfway, her arms latched around him with his around her. Tears are falling, just like when she said good-bye, but it's different now.

Nothing could make her leave now. Nothing.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**See? I'm not completely evil, and there's still more to come! The pace shifts a bit in the next part, though… Just thought I would warn you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, really important question for you all… Does anyone else ever start a story only for it to pretty much take mind of its own? Because this story has… Just not quite enough to write itself.**

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Rose," the Doctor whispered into her hair. "Oh, Rose… But how…?"

"I make a habit out of the impossible, remember?" Rose asked with a choked laugh. "In seriousness, though… She did it. The girl, Seren. She and the others are Time Lords. She used her ship to come through, burnt up a quasar to do so. I can't tell you why, though…"

"Because it was the right thing to do?" Somehow, Seren made the statement sound like a question. "And before you ask, he is the reason we didn't die in the Time War… Him and those 'friends' of his…" She pointed at Karlex before giving him an accusatory glare, then winced. "Ow ow ow… There's a Luigran around here somewhere…"

"I got it," Emrys said, vaulting over an overturned trash can as he took off after the Luigran that had just thought it would be fun to try and mess with Seren's head. Jenny, always eager for an adventure, took off after him, with Seren dragging Karlex along at a more leisurely pace.

"You lot coming or what?" she asked, and the Doctor and Rose shared a look before chasing after the others, Jack watching them for a minute before he too was caught in the old infectious joy that had once come when chasing down aliens.

"Ok, anyone else confused as bloody hell?" Donna asked, only to get nods from Martha, Gwen, and Owen.

XXXXXXX

"Bye!" Seren shouted, waving at the retreating alien spaceship she had spent the last four hours helping to repair. A wide grin was on her face, hazel eyes dancing with a joyous flame. "Oh, that was fun. Why couldn't all our adventures be like that? Instead, we get the weirdoes, not the cool stuff…"

"That's only because you're weird, so you attract other weird stuff," Emrys quipped, and Jenny stifled a laugh, remembering what he had said back at the Hub.

"Shush, you," Seren said, shoving him aside a little with a playful smile on her face.

"So, you two are going to go travel amongst the stars, huh?" Jack asked, standing a short ways away from the rest of the group with the Doctor and Rose.

"You can still come with us, you know," the Doctor offered. "After all, one more on board isn't going to hurt. And maybe you'll be able to help control those three."

"You are insane," Karlex said. "Not for thinking that Seren and Emrys want to come with you, become I'm sure Seren will be ecstatic at the thought of traveling in your TARDIS, and Emrys will go anywhere she does, but for thinking you'll be able to control them."

"You mean like you do?" Rose said, her tongue poking out from between her teeth. "Oh, wait, I forgot… She controls the both of you!"

"Yeah, Doc, you should have seen it," Jack said with a laugh. "She may just be a kid, but it's not hard to tell who's in charge there. I do have one question for you, though, Karlex."

"Ask away, Captain," Karlex said, his tone cool yet not unfriendly.

"How come you have to go to Seren when your Vortex Manipulator breaks? Do you not know how to fix it yourself or something?" Jack asked.

"Oh, if it was your standard Vortex Manipulator, I could repair it easily," Karlex said. "But Seren pretty much rebuilt the thing to make so it actually gets you where and when you want to go, so, unfortunately, I'd be more likely to break it than fix it."

"Who taught her that?" the Doctor asked, watching as Jenny, Seren, and Emrys began an impromptu game of tag, the eighteen year old spinning out a little as she raced around Donna.

"I haven't the faintest clue," Karlex admitted, sounding somewhat guilty. "Oh, I know someone taught her that, but I couldn't even begin to tell you who it was. She picked that up being her little solo stint, which was, what, five years ago?"

"Thirteen," Rose said, her heart going out to the brunette who had obviously seen so much in so short a time. "Only thirteen years old."

"Tell her that," Karlex said. "Seren, she… She's never been one for following the status quo."

"Oi, Spaceman," Donna said, causing Rose to snicker at the nickname. "So are we going to be taking these little rascals with us or what?" Anyone could see the teasing light in her eyes as she said that, though.

"We're going," Jenny said before the Doctor, and they all noticed the emphasis on the plural. "It'll be fun to have a…sister, that's the word…"

"I don't do domestic," Seren said, and Karlex groaned softly at the stubbornness. "And, no offense, but family would be domestic."

"Didn't you say something similar to that once?" Rose asked the Doctor cheekily.

"Oh, come on, It'll be fun!" Jenny argued. "See, Dad, he's gonna be the dad, and Rose will be the mom," Jack grinned in a somewhat evil manner at that, "Donna's the really cool…aunt?," at this, Donna's face suddenly clashed with her hair, "Karlex is the uncle who really needs to lighten up," she just got a deadpan look, "thank you for proving my point, and Jack is… Well, Jack can just be Jack."

"And I can just stay out of this whole thing," Emrys said. "By all means, give Seren a family. Rassilon knows that she needs one. But leave me out of it. I have one already, and I'm not replacing it."

"You never mentioned this before, Em," Seren said, her tone soft.

He shrugged. "It never came up before." Noticing that Karlex wanted to protest the likelihood of his parents surviving the Time War, he cut him off. "Before you say anything, I'll have you know that it would have been impossible for my mother to have died in the War, because she had left Gallifrey a while before it began. As for my father, well, I really don't give a damn. He left my mother shortly before I was born, so in my books, he wasn't worth anything anyway."

Karlex groaned then, realizing who Emrys' mother had to be. "Great… Just fantastic."

"What is it?" the Doctor asked, rather curious.

"I have a very very strong hunch on who his mother is, and to say that she heavily dislikes me would be an understatement," Karlex explained. "On the other hand, it _does_ explain any number of mannerisms and the like…"

"So Emrys can be a family friend with ulterior motives for traveling with us," Jenny said firmly, having already picked up on the attraction between the two dark-haired youths.

"What's the supposed to mean?" Emrys asked.

"Ignore her," Seren said, putting a hand on his arm. "Besides, look on the bright side… She's not _**your **_new sister…"

"You mean… Oh, !" Jenny shouted, hugging the slightly shorter girl.

"Eh… You were just going to badger me on it anyway…" Seren said, feeling rather awkward. 

And yet, even with Seren's excuses… For the first time, Karlex has to wonder if Seren might know more than he thought. Besides…_**That**_… Of course.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**Yes, it's a little short. But almost half of this was four pages in a spiral bound notebook, and I can't really add too much without messing up the general plot. Oh, and I have a contest for everyone.**

**Prizes in the form of chapter dedications will be going to the first person to guess each of the following:**

**-who Emrys' mother is**

**-who Karlex is**

**-what caused Seren to hug Jack (chapter 3)**

**-what it is that Karlex thinks Seren might know about**

**-what **_**"That" **_**is**


	6. Chapter 6

**Is it a bad thing when you can better see how the sequel is going to play out over the first story in the series? And, yes, this is only the first in a series… Well, first in a sense… It's complicated. Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey. Hmm… Pretty effective tongue-twister, that is… **

**Oh, and I should warn you, some of the Doctor's origins are coming from the BBC Books novel **_The Infinity Doctors__**.**_** If anyone gets too confused, PM me and I'll try to explain. If the numbers get too high, I'll explain it out in an author's note. 'Kay?**

_**-TARDIS speaking-**_

_-Telepathic speech-_

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

"So, where to first?" The Doctor asked about two hours later, Seren and Emrys just having finished locking down their ship.

"You never did take me to Barcelona; the planet, not the city," Rose said thoughtfully. "But that can wait until morning. It's not nice to go off having adventures when your companions need a bit of shut-eye, Doctor."

A glance at the others, barring Jack and Karlex, confirms Rose's thoughts that the other members of the TARDIS crew need to sleep. "Fine… Don't you need to sleep, too?"

"Actually… I need to talk to you about that. And a few other things," Rose said. "Is the kitchen still in the same place?"

"Should be… She's back to the 1950's diner look," the Doctor said. "Although I can imagine it has a few more tables now… Jack, play with the console and I'll throw you in the bottomless pit I found… At least I think it's bottomless. Haven't heard the penny hit bottom yet, anyway."

"Come on, you," Rose said with a laugh, practically dragging him away.

"So…" Jack said. "Chess?"

XXXXXXX

"You're upset about something," the Doctor said after watching Rose pace the length of the recently enlarged kitchen for a few minutes. "Tell me."

"I will, but…" Rose said, uneasy about giving away her biggest secret. It had gotten her hurt before, and she couldn't handle that again. "Doctor, back on Bad Wolf Bay, you started to say something. You said 'And I suppose, if this is my last chance to say it… Rose Tyler,' and then the projection cut out. Tell me how that sentence was going to end. Please."

"I… Rose Tyler… I love you. And can you forgive me for not telling you sooner?" the Doctor asked, telling himself that those weren't tears in his eyes. "I was stupid, and blind, and a fool, and I loved you from the instant you saved my life with gymnastics."

Rose just flung her arms around the Doctor's neck, crying. "Oh, you daft old alien… How could I not forgive you?" She let her hand cup his cheek, smiling tenderly when he held her hand there. "But… Doctor, I don't know how to say this…"

"Then don't," The Doctor said. "Whatever it is, it can wait. Because, Rose, right now… If it wouldn't be too selfish of me, the TARDIS has a rather lovely room with _billions_ of choices for holograms of the night sky, and the garden is very realistic. And I would be honored if you would consider spending the evening there with me."

"Who else would I spend it with?" Rose asked, smiling. "And it's my honor, not yours. After all, this is _your _spaceship…"

_Not anymore,_ the Doctor desperately wanted to say. _Ours now. _"The Doctor and Rose Tyler in the TARDIS, how it should be. Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake!"

"Which one's Shiver?" Rose asked, remember this conversation from before. AT least this time she knew it would end better.

"Oh, I'm Shake."

XXXXXXX

"You've been the Doctor's companion before," Karlex said, turning down the chess offer. _Of course, I knew that, but telling the Captain would be a __**very**__ bad idea… _"Why did you leave?" _And more importantly, why did you come back, Captain?_

"I didn't exactly plan to leave," Jack said. "But the Doctor was regenerating, and his instincts told him I shouldn't exist. I'm sure you're noticed that by now."

"Obviously."

Jack stared at Karlex a moment, trying to figure out who this man reminded him of. "Anyway, it took me a long time to find him again, and when I did, I thought… I thought Rose was dead. She wasn't, but part of me was upset at the Doctor for not telling me that."

"There's something else to it, isn't there?" Karlex asked, knowing the answer, but needing to hear it all the same.

"Very perceptive, aren't you?" Karlex shrugged in way of reply. "Yeah, there's something else. The Master tried to take over the world, managed to do so for about a year, and then the Doctor turned back time so it never happened. Still, it made me realize that for the time being, Torchwood needed me. They should have everything under control now, though."

"And what became of the Master?" Karlex asked.

"He died. Refused to regenerate. I've never seen the Doctor so…" Jack trailed off. "Why did he care? The Doctor, why did about the Master so much?"

"Because it was a well-known fact that those two had been the best of friends," Karlex said. "And some said that the Doctor never stopped considering the Master his friend, even when the Master tried to off him. Especially then."

"Yeah, but why?"

"You do know that you sound like a child, right?" Jack just crossed his arms. Karlex sighed. "Fine… Probably because they were practically brothers. Might even have been half-brothers."

"Only half?" Jack asked, slightly confused by this. "I thought Time Lords were quite strict in the 'bonding' thing."

"Within Time Lord society, yes. Which is why there was speculation on those two being half-brothers," Karlex explained with a somewhat haughty tone.

"…I don't get it," Jack said, now completely lost.

Karlex straightened up out of the slouch he had sunk into. "The Doctor didn't tell you _anything _about his past?" he asked, sounding somewhat alarmed. "As in, not a word?"

"He mentioned the Time War, but other than that… No," Jack said, frowning as he realized this. "I mean, I know some of his history from having to avoid past regenerations, but… Not a whole lot."

"So… You have absolutely no knowledge of his rather…particular parental situation?" Karlex asked, trying not to give too much away. At least, not at first, anyway.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, guarded and suspicious now. "'Particular parental situation'? Was he raised by hermits?"

"Of course not! Don't be stupid," Karlex chastened, the 'stupider than normal' going unsaid. "His father was an explorer and distinguished member of Lungbarrow. And his mother managed to become a prominent member of the High Council, which was _**extremely **_impressive, all things considered."

"If you're just going to speak in riddles…" Jack said, getting up to leave.

Karlex got up as well, and Jack noticed for the first time that the Time Lord was just a few inches taller than he was. "He really didn't tell you a _thing_, did he?"

"Look, you may enjoy mind games…"

"He's not a full-blooded Time Lord."

"…but some of u- WHAT?"

Karlex smirked, but it was gone so fast Jack half thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. "The Doctor, he isn't a full-blooded Time Lord. His mother was human. A telepath and time-sensitive human from somewhere around the 56th century, but human none the less. Haven't you wonder why he has all that manic energy? Time Lords do _NOT_ have ADHD, after all…"

"I thought…" Jack said. "I kinda just figured it was because he was the Doctor. You know, saving planets because he can. Insulting some big alien leader guy because he got bored."

"Has he actually done that?" Jack nodded. "Rassilon, he's more of an idiot than I thought," Karlex said. "But, no, it's probably ADHD. Didn't you notice that he has a belly button?"

Jack just shook his head. "Hey, do you think you can fly the TARDIS?"

"With the way he's jury-rigged the controls?" Karlex said. "Highly unlikely. Oh, I'm sure that within a week, I will be able to, but at the moment… I would rather not risk accidentally piloting into a supernova, thanks."

"So… It's not supposed to have all these doohickeys then?" Jack asked with a smile.

"I don't think so, but I can't be positive. She _**is**_ a Type 40 TT TARDIS, after all. Already a museum piece before the Doctor even came close to a pilot exam," Karlex said. "He failed that, by the way. It's why he stole this; no newer model TARDIS would have let him open the doors without sounding the alarm, let alone fly the thing. Still, no one ever tried to make him return her. Not really too surprising, TARDISes are capable of shutting someone out of being able to control them."

"So… She let him steal her?" Jack asked.

"You could say that, yes," Karlex said with a nod. "But you could also say that _she_ stole _him_. And if we're being honest here, Captain, I have a feeling that's what actually happened. The Doctor managed to get the door open, and she took him where he wanted to go; or needed to go, Type 40s always were temperamental…"

A blast of cold air hit them, and Jack remembered that it was the way the TARDIS told people she was unhappy.

"That's unnecessary, you know," Karlex said, and Jack could tell he was talking to the TARDIS. "I have a higher psi-sensitivity than he does; a telepathic conversation works just as well." A pause. "Oh, admit it! The newer models were manipulated into having far less emotion; I don't always mean everything as an insult, you know." The pause was slightly longer this time. "No, of course not! Had it been anyone other than the Eckhortins, then yes, quite possibly. But you know what they're like." A blast of cold air again. "Ok, so maybe the White Guardian decided to help a little too. Either way, it's not going to happen." A longer pause. "Did you know what it was? What they used?" Cold air, and jetted with quite a bit of force. "Yeah. That was my response. And of course there's guilt. Why wouldn't there be?"

"Uh, I'm just going to go now…" Jack said, starting to get a little creeped out by only hearing half the conversation. "Bye."

_**-Because of who you were.-**_

_-Who I was isn't who I am. After all, would the old me ever have cared?-_

_**-Touch my controls, and I'll shock you into your next regeneration.-**_

_-If I'm a good boy, will I get that privilege back? Because I have places to go… Places the Doctor needs to go. I'm not off their contract yet.-_

_**-I can handle getting them to their locations. Besides, you have a Vortex Manipulator.-**_

_-That doesn't work.-_

_**-Fix it.-**_

_-I can't! How many bloody times do I have to say that?-_

_**-…there's one in your room. Which I changed up a bit; secret keeping and all that.-**_

_-You're helping me. Why would you want to help me? You don't even know what it is I plan to do. I could go out there and blow up a sun.-_

_**-But you're not going to. And I do know what you plan to do. I know what you're already doing. I know why you're being nice to me…-**_

_-Is it so hard to believe I've changed?-_

_**-In a word… Maybe. Let me get to know this you, and I'll get back to you on it. And there's also a drive in your room. Rose absorbed the Time Vortex and the Doctor regenerated to save her, so I got a download of his head. I don't think he noticed.-**_

_-She did WHAT?-_

_**-Destroyed the Dalek Emperor while she was at it. And created the Fact. Just because the Doctor sent her away knowing he was about to die.-**_

_-…remind me not to get on her bad side. And don't try telling me it's gone, I sensed it. It was bad enough with one half human Time Lord, why do we need more?-_

_**-You're the Time Lord. You tell me.-**_

_-Would that I could. Oh, and do me a favor… Get rid of any pears. I know, the Doctor hates them, but Seren is actually afraid of them… Animation doohickey and a growth formula.-_

_**-Poor child… Of course. The Paradox must be cared for.-**_

_-That's what she can call herself! The Paradoxical One! A better title you couldn't find!-_

_**-Be nice… You care for her. Not as the Savage Lord does, but as if she was your own. Why? What did she do that made you care?-**_

_-It's what she didn't do. The first place we went, somebody thought it would be fun to try and kill us. Emrys was knocked out cold, and I accidentally ousted myself. She had the chance to tell him who I was, but didn't. When I asked her about it, she explained that she knew. The Vortex had told her.-_

_**-And you respected her for it. But respect is not the same as caring. What made you care? And do tell me the truth this time.-**_

_-…I don't know. I just know that somewhere along the line, I started to care. And it's not just her, it's both of them. Emrys just gives me the cold shoulder because he's worried I'm trying to steal her from him. He's wrong, of course.-_

_**-You didn't have to come.-**_

_-Of course I did! I need to get _them_ to that marketplace at the right time, remember?-_

_**-But you could have just told me, and I would have taken them there. You didn't have to come, you wanted to. Why is that?-**_

_-Why are you asking so many questions?-_

_**-Would you rather I just took the information from your head without your consent?-**_

_-No… And… There's danger coming. The Eckhortins warned me about it, as did the White Guardian. Not for me, but for the Doctor. There are… people. People who want him _dead_.-_

_**-And you're here to keep that from happening. What happens when the Doctor finds out your true identity? Will you leave?-**_

_-If they're still after him, no. I know I've made mistakes in the past, but I won't again. The Eckhortins saved my life, and now it's my turn to pass the favor along.-_

_**-…If you so much as try to take over in a house, I'll switch isomorphic controls on.-**_

_-You trust me? Already?-_

_**-Yes. Just don't make me regret it.-**_

"Thank you," Karlex murmured. _–It means a lot to me. More than you know.-_

_**-Well, I really do require more than one pilot…-**_

_-…still. Thank you.-_

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**Any takers on who Karlex is? Or, you know, the other challenges…**


	7. Chapter 7

…**I really need a new hobby. And this chapter is dedicated to **Web of Obsidian **for correcting figuring out who Karlex is; and **MintaClaire **for figuring out who Emrys' mother is. The other parts are still open, however.**

**In other news, it has occurred to me just how **_**long **_**this is probably going to end up being… As in, it will probably be over thirty chapters long when finished, and that's (almost) certainly an underestimation. Then again, I did plan for a nice long story… Besides, there's a lot to cover yet… **

**Oh, and have any of you seen the 1996 movie? I saw it recently (needed the Eighth doctor background) and... May have fan girl squee-ed more than once... Eight was SO cool, though! It's kinda sucky that he only got the one 'episode', though... *sad-face* I like Eight... He's probably my second favourite Doctor now... Ten is first, and Four is the third.**

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

"So... You have a daughter," Rose said, fighting back a smirk. "How did that happen?"

"First off, whatever you're thinking..." the Doctor warned. "The TARDIS basically piloted herself to Messaline, where I was forced, at gunpoint, to put my hand in a progenation machine. It takes a tissue sample, splits the diploid cells in haploids, recombines them, and grows them rather quickly. So, actually, Jenny is more of a clone..."

"She calls you 'Dad'," Rose quipped. "And you don't seem to be arguing with her on that, so..."

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it seeing as he didn't want to risk getting slapped, and settled for pouting-that-wasn't-really-pouting-because-Time Lords-do-not-pout. Rose just laughed at him.

"Doctor, I would have expected you to be able to recognize sarcasm," Rose finally managed to say after her fit of giggles subsided. "Besides, she seems sweet. And apparently someone told her about us..."

"Ah, yes..." the Doctor said with a nervous chuckle. "I suspect it to be Jack..."

"I dunno, Seren and Emrys seem to know a lot about you," Rose said with a shrug. "That reminds me... You said you would know it if their other Time Lords out there; how come those three were able to hide from you?"

"Well, Karlex's psychic inhibitor would do that job for him; he probably wears that because he's one of the higher psi-sensitive Time Lords and doesn't to hypnotise people by accident," the Doctor concluded. "And Seren and Emrys have a direct psychic bond, so their minds would shield each other. I couldn't sense Jenny because she probably doesn't know too much about the psychic aspects of being a Time Lord."

"There's a difference between the psi-sensitivity of different Time Lords?" Rose asked. "Where would you fit in?"

"Oh... Right about average, maybe a little above," the Doctor guessed. "It's hard to say. It wasn't just because I ran away that I didn't fit the traditional Time Lord template."

"What else is there then? Seren mentioned a 'glitch' in the Looming process..."

"My DNA doesn't match up exactly," the Doctor explained, immediately grateful to the girl. "But the difference could only be picked up by a Gallifreyan scanner. It's no big deal; shouldn't affect regeneration or anything."

"Seren said a few extra."

"Did she?" the Doctor asked, looking rather surprised. "Huh. Well, either way, I don't have a scanner for checking the amount of regenerative energy, so..."

"So, how long was it for you?" Rose asked, drawing her knees up to her chest. "It was... No, that can't be right... Did I really spend three years in the parallel universe? It doesn't... It feels like it was so much less than that."

The Doctor shrugged. "Going from both how you reacted at Bad Wolf Bay and my own less-than-pleasant phase after the whole situation... I'd guess that you were mourning. It makes time feel like it's passing differently."

"Makes sense," Rose said with a half-heartened chuckle. "Still, that's doesn't answer my question."

"Well... I've no idea. I lost track in between meeting Donna for the first time and meeting Martha. And then there was the whole Year That Never Was... It's hard to say."

"Meet Donna for the first time?" Rose asked, scrunching her nose slightly. "Did ya meet her twice or something?"

The Doctor nodded. "She didn't want to travel with me at first. Can't say I blame her... Completely trashed her wedding."

"What did you DO?" Rose asked between giggles. "And try to stay in order, would ya?"

The Doctor launched into his tale, the two laughing from time to time as they spent the night under a hologram of the Medusa Cascade.

XXXXXXX

At some point throughout the night (relatively, of course, there is no real time when in the Time Vortex) Karlex ended up in the library. Although he was briefly rendered into a state that questioned the sanity of the Doctor upon seeing a larger than Olympic sized pool, a check of the book proves his theory that they are waterproof versions, so he decides the Doctor wasn't completely insane. Yet.

It took him nearly half an hour, because the Doctor's library is organized like everything else he owns; by a random chaotic manner that would drive a person with OCD absolutely crazy. Karlex decides then and there to organize this mess, but not right now. Because he had found an ornate Gallifreyan tome, and although he would probably be laughed at mercilessly if someone other than Seren who knew his real identity caught him reading _fairy tales_, it brings on a wave of nostalgia that's impossible to ignore.

So when Captain Jack wandered in at the relative time of around eight in the morning, it's to find Karlex rather comfortably seated in a plush-looking armchair, having gotten to the third fable in the book. "What are you reading?"

"Something I haven't read in _centuries_," Karlex said, allowing Jack to see that it was written in Modern Gallifreyan before he went back to reading. "I had almost forgotten how fascinating this is."

"What?" Seren asked, walking in, towelling off her hair. Her suddenly _auburn_ hair. She glanced at the title and grinned. "Are you close to being done with that?"

"Nope."

"Aw... I've always wanted to read that..." Seren said, flopping down in a beanbag chair with a sulking look. "Oh, morning, Jack."

"You're a ginger...sort of," Jack said.

"And...?"

"You had dark hair yesterday."

"She washed the ink out," Emrys said, entering. "Hair ink; kind of like hair dye, only it just coats the natural hair colour. Seren started wearing it after we went to this one planet with natives that thought gingers were demons that drained people's life-energy. It's been a while since you washed it out, though."

"When have we had a break lately?" Seren asked, cocking one eyebrow and smirking lightly.

"Eh. Fair point," Emrys concurred. "You going to leave it alone this time?"

"You should," Karlex said. "It's suits you better. Dark auburn hair makes you look more like the spitfire that you are... Ow! What was that for?" He set the book down, rubbing his shin. "Why must you kick people?"

"Because they insult me," Seren argued, crossing her arms. "And more your information, I wasn't going to ink it again. I couldn't if I wanted to, anyway. I ran out last time. Besides, Donna is more of a ginger than I am, so I think I'm good."

"Good," Emrys muttered, and then louder because it had earned him a soft glare from Seren. "Dark hair just doesn't suit you. You're too...rambunctious, in this first regeneration."

"Thanks," Seren said. She snapped her towel at him as she left the room. "Now... Kitchen."

"So, did the Doctor and Rose come through here last night?" Jack asked.

"No. And don't get your hopes up on seeing time soon; stop grinning like that!" Karlex ordered, glaring at Jack. "They're in one of the gardens with a holosky. They were catching up last I was told. The TARDIS is rather willing to answer questions when she's asked nicely."

"Good to know," Emrys said, picking up a copy of _The Hobbit_. He glanced over at Karlex. "Are you really reading...?"

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with what I'm reading," Karlex argued. "Besides, your _girlfriend_ seemed rather keen to get her paws on it."

"First off, why must you be so rude? Seren had very valid point," Emrys said. "Secondly, she is not my girlfriend."

"Oh, but you wish she was..." Karlex said. The next moment, he ducked, avoiding the switchblade Emrys had whipped at him. "Have some respect, this is a library. Sharp objects should NOT be being thrown in here. Nor should miniature flamethrowers be in use."

"You have a mini flamethrower?" Jack asked, intrigued.

"Down, Captain. It's merely one of those little blowtorches with a nozzle that allows for greater concentration of the flame, not to mention a slightly different gas mixture in the chamber," Karlex explained calmly, pulling the knife from the wall and closing it before handing it back to Emrys. "Seren carries an ice pick. Why is beyond me, though..."

"She picked up a grappling hook as well," Emrys inputted. "I'm not entirely sure why, but knowing the mayhem that regularly occurs, I'm sure she'll find a use for it..."

"Oh, having a grappling hook makes perfect sense!" Karlex argued, giving up on his book for now. "It would have such a help with that whole canyon issue..."

"I thought we agreed not to discuss that," Emrys said.

"Yes. Right. Sorry, Captain, I did give my word..." Karlex said. He stretched. "Besides, Seren had the right idea... It's been... No. Really? Was it two days ago?"

"Did you forget to eat? Again?" Emrys asked, having gotten used to Karlex's strange behaviour years ago. "Count yourself lucky that Seren isn't here... She's worse than my mom ever was."

"I'm sure," Karlex muttered. He stalked out.

"Morning, Karlex," Jenny said. "Where's Seren?"

"Making her hot chocolate, I would expect," Karlex said. "She does so every morning. Being able to find the kitchen would make it easier to find her..."

_**-Four doors down, on the right.-**_

"Do you know where the kitchen is?" Jenny asked.

"Yes," Karlex said, sending the TARDIS a quick _-Thank you-_. "It's this wa- Duck!" he shoved the three year old to the floor, shielding her from the crockery pieces that fell after a teapot was smashed into the wall.

"In my defence, it tried to kill me," Seren said, holding a rolling pin like it was a cricket bat. "And don't give me that look; I'm serious! It started spitting hot water at me."

"Did you get burned?' Karlex asked, vividly reminding of an accident two years ago.

"Not this time," she answered, somewhat morbidly. "Now, I need a new kettle. Preferably a non-sentient one..."

"Who has a sentient teapot?" Emrys asked, cautiously sonicing the pieces with his marker-looking probe. "Other than the Doctor, obviously."

"What's all this ruckus about?" Donna asked, glaring at the lot of them. "And who smashed the kettle? ...never mind, that's the evil one. Good job, uh...?"

"That would have been Seren... Now where did she get off to?" Jenny asked, somewhat irritated. "That's twice she's given me the slip inside of an hour!"

"Kitchen," Jack said with a bit of a grin. "But to be honest, that was amazing."

"I've seen better," Karlex said. "But it was rather... Intriguing, wasn't it?"

"Boys," Donna muttered. She followed Jenny into the kitchen, where Seren was perched on the counter, a mug of cocoa in her hands. "Morning, Seren... Wasn't your hair brown yesterday?"

"I washed out the hair ink, basically the same as hair dye," Seren explained. "Auburn is my natural colour."

"It is rather pretty," Jenny said, not having gotten a chance to tell Seren before she slipped off for the first time that morning. "Now, why did you run off this morning?"

"I needed my cocoa," Seren answered, as it was supposed to be obvious. "It's my wake-me-up. I don't like coffee or tea in the morning. It's one of this regeneration's quirks."

"It's normal for Time Lords to have weird habits with each regeneration?" Jack asked, accepting the offered cup of tea from Donna gratefully.

"Not exactly," Karlex said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "But you'd have been hard pressed to find a renegade that wasn't at least somewhat off the wall. I'm the only one here who wouldn't be quickly named a renegade, and that's more because I was discreet, unlike some people..."

"Like Dad?" Jenny asked, sniffing her tea before sampling it. She grabbed the sugar bowl, sweetening until she liked the flavour.

"The Doctor, the Master, the Trickster; he was a nightmare and a half, the Rani... You know, she's probably is on an asteroid somewhere, completely oblivious that the Time War ever occurred. I seriously doubt either Romana or Rassilon would have called _her _back..." Karlex mused.

Emrys winced at the thought of the Rani in the Time War. "No way either of them did. The Daleks would have been wiped out in an instant."

"If she even fought for the Time Lords," Seren inputted, and Emrys and Karlex exchanged a frightened look on the thought of the Rani actively fighting with the Daleks. "Davros would have gotten along with her like that, too."

"Who's the Rani?" Jack asked, moving to sit down at the island with its stools.

"May you never meet her," Karlex said darkly. "You've met the Master, Captain... The Rani was one of the few people he had feared."

Jack shivered. "She's sounds like a right piece of work."

"Oh, trust us, she was, is? Anyway, completely mad experimenter who thought nothing of wiping a few planets in the process," Seren said. "Complete and utter psycho. And she would be on her, what, second regeneration?"

"Last I knew, it was still her first," Karlex corrected. "She was one of the non-agers."

"Well, let's hope she stays lost, eh?" Emrys said. "Having the Rani enter the scene is the last thing we need."

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**Oh, I'm so cruel... And this is already up to 38 pages in Microsoft Word... -.- I need a hobby!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Don't you just hate how teachers start reviews for finals at the end of April when finals are in June? Oh, and, uh, this chapter proves why it's rated 'T' not 'K-plus'... Not that it's anything more than vague hinting, but... Yeah, I'm just going to type up the chapter now...**

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

At some point last night, they must have fallen asleep. Or at least, that was the only conclusion that the Doctor could come up with as to why Rose was cuddled against him. And, backing up his mental validation, she was asleep. Admittedly, his idea meant that he had fallen asleep as well, which, to be honest, would be odd. After all, Time Lords don't need to sleep like humans do. But even the Doctor had to admit that if he was going to sleep, it wouldn't be bad to wake up like this.

A thought that was only reinforced in his mind when Rose kissed him as she awoke.

XXXXXXXX

"Alright," Seren said, entering the console as she checked the fit of the vest she had nicked from the wardrobe. "Where are we headed, then?"

"We're not," Karlex said. "The Doctor and Rose have yet to show up."

"And...?" Seren asked. "That means we can't go anywhere? What kind of rubbish is this?"

"Look, it's not my ship," Karlex said. He knew that he was really just making excuses in an attempt to try and limit how much trouble the eighteen year old could get into. "Besides, there's plenty to do in the TARDIS... Go play in the Zero Room or something. Or read a book."

"I don't want to," Seren pouted. Emrys stifled a laugh. "And I can't find the TV room. The TARDIS keeps moving everything on me!"

Jenny giggled. "You're so... Childish, I guess."

"And you aren't?" Seren asked, defensively. "Besides, the Doctor is more of a child than me..."

"No argument there," Karlex said with a snicker. With a soft nudge from the TARDIS (she was just as bad at holding grudges as her owner) he was reminded of Seren's comment yesterday before leaving Earth. "Actually, Seren, I need a word with you."

"Fine," Seren grumbled, knowing that when Karlex needed to speak to her, it was something major. However, she still danced to a song in her head until Karlex pretty much shoved her down in a chair in what seemed to be a sitting room. "Pushy maniac."

"Seren..." his tone wasn't threatening, but it left no room for argument.

"Fine, I'll stop," she said. "Now, I assume this is about why I agreed to 'play' family with Jenny?"

"Perceptive as ever, I see," Karlex said, but not coldly. "So... Why?"

"Would you believe me if I said that it was because I was lonely?" Seren asked, giving up her hopes of a facade with him. "I have you and Emrys, but..."

"But you know who I was and you can't see Emrys as a brother," Karlex realized, ignoring the pang of knowing that Seren was just one more person that he could never really be close to.

"Yes and no, or rather; no and yes," Seren said, a somewhat sad smile on her face. "Yes, I know who you were, but that doesn't mean you can't be 'Uncle' Karlex. But Emrys... Oh, I don't know how to explain it..."

"I do," Karlex said, telling himself that Seren's calling him 'Uncle' didn't make him feel both elated and guilty. "You love him. Not as Rose loves Jack, but as she loves the Doctor."

Seren half-heartedly glared at him for 3.57 seconds before dropping her gaze to the floor. "Anyway, now that we've talked, wanna grab the others and watch a movie? I doubt Miss Tyler and her beau will be joining us, though..."

"Seconded," Karlex said. "Although I'm not entirely sure how long the 'Miss' thing will last..."

Seren grinned. "Well, duh. Come on. Let's see if Captain Jack is familiar with Captain Jack."

Karlex snorted. He knew for a fact that Jack was, and so maybe he had done a little snooping into Harkness' timeline, whatever. It wasn't like he would that for evil.

No, he was on the side of good, of light, of order. And he intended to stay there.

XXXXXXX

Around an hour later, the Doctor wasn't entirely sure what had just happened. All he knew was that it had.

"You know, if we stay here much longer, the others will start to wonder... Especially Jack," Rose said, but made no real attempt to do anything to change the situation.

"Mmhmm," the Doctor said.

About five minutes later, by mutual consent, both agreed that maybe letting the others think what they would wasn't so bad.

XXXXXXX

Jack was bored. The others had left to go watch a movie, the Doctor and Rose were still hiding somewhere, and he had finished cleaning up the mess that was caused by the pancakes.

"Avast, coward!"

Jack blinked. Apparently it had taken him a lot longer than he thought to clean up the batter, not that he was surprised (how on Earth do you get pancake batter up the faucet, anyway?), because Jenny was standing in front of him, decked out as a pirate.

And pointing a toy sword at him.

"Arrg, matey, what has ye found?" Seren showed up, also in pirate grab. Her sword was tucked in her forest green sash, though. Jenny had gone with the more traditional red colouring for her belt.

"A scurvy dog ready to walk the plank!" Jenny said, waving a hand with more cheap rings on it than Jack could count. "Do we take 'im to the Cap'n?"

"It'll pro'lly be best we do," Seren replied, making Jack wonder who the 'Cap'n' was. "Get yer feet moving, landlubber."

Jack complied, mortal curiosity overpowering the fact that the swords at his back were plastic toys, and couldn't do much. "So, tell me ladies," and he feverishly hoped the Doctor wasn't the Captain, because Jack did not want Jenny telling her father he had tried flirting because of a game, "who's these lovely 'Cap'n' of yours?"

"Do ye want to walk the plank, landlubber?" Seren asked, poking him with her sword. "Get in there or it's the brig for ye."

"The TARDIS has a brig?" Jack wondered out loud.

"Well, judging from the fact that this place seems to have everything, including a swimming pool in the library, I would assume it would have a brig," Karlex said with an amused grin on his face.

"We brought 'im to ye, Cap'n!" Jenny shouted, and now that Jack takes the time to look closely, he can see burning humour in the eyes of the two 'pirates'.

"Yes, thank you, girls," Karlex said. "Now, why don't you go plunder a village or something? I'm sure if you looked, you could find one on this crazy old ship..."

"Aye aye, Cap'n!" both chime in unison, racing out the door with the fake swords drawn.

"Do I even want to know what that was all about?" Jack asked, calmer now that he knew he wasn't actually going to be knocked into the swimming pool or something. Without really knowing either Jenny or Seren, he hadn't been sure what to expect. Admittedly, he didn't know Karlex either, but the older Time Lord had earned some of his respect with heir conversation last night.

"Apparently watching _Pirates of the Caribbean _made them want to be pirates," Karlex said with a small shrug. "Life here isn't going to be boring, that's for sure."

"When is it with the Doctor around?" Jack asked, grinning.

"Good question. Unfortunately, I don't have a good answer, or even an answer at all. However, that's not why I wanted to talk to you."

"Lemme guess... You want me to keep what you told me last night to myself?" Jack asked, having figured out where this conversation was probably going.

"Perceptive, Captain," Karlex said. "And yes. Myself and Seren are the only two with full knowledge of the Doctor's past, besides him himself, of course. I do think he would appreciate you not spreading his history to everyone. In fact, I'm not entirely sure he would appreciate my having told you anything at all."

"Hey, I got it covered," Jack said, downplaying the situation to put an obviously worried Karlex at ease. "Now... I believe you owe me a game of chess from last night?"

XXXXXXX

Donna was somewhat bored. Yes, she was enjoying the wonderful respite from all the running, but even so, it just seemed so very quiet in the TARDIS. The Doctor and Rose had yet to return (not that she thought or expected that they would return anytime soon) and Seren and Jenny had run off somewhere.

"Well, maybe I can finally get a little reading done, then." With that she wandered towards the library, a little bit surprised to find it already occupied.

"Hello," the raven haired boy said, not looking up from his book. "Sit down anywhere, you want to, Miss Noble. I promise I won't bite."

"Donna," she corrected, almost automatically. "And your Emrys, right?"

"Correct," he replied, flicking through the book at a seemingly impossible speed. "If there's a particular book you're looking for, I'm afraid it might not be where you left it. Karlex was here, and he can be a little obsessive compulsive about organizing stuff."

"I was going to read another Agatha Christie mystery," Donna admitted. "Spaceman and I ran into her recently, and I figured I might as well reread a few of them to get that new perspective, you know?"

"Third shelf from the bottom," Emrys said, pointing at the bookshelf nearly directly behind him.

"Thanks," Donna said as she grabbed one of the books she hadn't read yet and starting it. "What's that you're reading?"

"_Mein Kampf_," Emrys said.

"Hitler's manifesto?" Donna asked, surprised. "Why would you read that?"

"I was bored and it's in German," Emrys explained. "One of my hobbies is reading in languages other than English unless unavoidable. That way I'll be able to communicate without having to rely on the translation cortex. Plus, Karlex said this book might help me understand the way crazy people think... Bad crazy people, not good ones," he amended, remembering that he was on the Doctor's TARDIS.

"Ah," Donna said, accepting the explanation rather than give herself a headache trying to understand Emrys' mentality.

"Why do you call the Doctor Spaceman?" Emrys said, looking up as the nickname came back to him.

"Because he claims he's not a Martian," Donna said with a smile.

"Of course he's not a Martian," Emrys said, settling back into his book. "I mean, he's not your standard Time Lord either, but he is a Gallifreyan."

"So who exactly are the three of you?" Donna asked after trying and failing to focus on her book.

"Time Lords, at least genetically," Emrys said, setting down his own book. "I will admit, I bio-scanned Karlex to be sure. But after spending a few years with the guy, I've grown to trust him. He really _is_ like a weird uncle that would say he didn't like you until you got in trouble, and then he would make sure whatever might have hurt will never have the ability to do so again. Like when Seren made a mistake and was caught by some crazy scientists."

"How old was she then?" Donna asked, having needled enough information out of the Doctor to know that Time Lords grew up at a similar rate to human for their first twenty years or so.

"Look, and you can't tell anyone about any of this, or Seren'll kill me, but since she won't tell you, I will, but Seren isn't exactly eighteen by a few rules. Technically, she's around thirty or so. But chronologically, she's eighteen," Emrys said, groaning when Donna just gave him a 'what?' look. "When Seren was 'born', she was already physically twelve years old. After all, there was a war going on, so the Looming age was changed from infant to preteen. There was also an immediate post-birth information upload, so that she would be able to, for the most part, take care of herself."

"So she's thirty but she's eighteen?" Donna asked, having gotten the TARDIS to translate a book on Gallifrey for her so she knew what Emrys was trying to saw, even there were parts she was fuzzy on.

"Exactly," Emrys said. "She was ten when he rescued us... And then when she was thirteen, ran off on her own for a year..."

"Karlex mentioned that," Donna said, remembering that conversation from earlier.

"Well, two years ago, she had gone off her own for a few days, because that's how she was until after what happened on that last excursion," Emrys said. "She accidentally bumped into a few scientists, and when they found out she wasn't human..."

"They dragged her off to a lab," Donna realized.

"Yeah, and let me tell you, if you've seen the Doctor when he looks ready to kill, Karlex was that and a little bit more. By his nature, the Doctor is pacifistic. Karlex is not. I can't tell you where to go to give the scientist what-for, because the place is gone. As are they," Emrys' face was dark as he said that, and Donna realized that no matter what they say or do; Seren and Emrys are insanely in love, so much so that they would quite literally kill to protect each other. And that if Karlex cares for someone, you should have your will in order if you're going to hurt them, even if it's only a little bit.

"What pushed him over the edge?" Donna asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"They wouldn't just let her go," Emrys said. "One of them tried dragging her to one the cryo-units by her hair. Seren fought, and in the struggle, a beaker of some kind of acid was knocked over and splashed onto her left forearm. ...I had never heard someone scream like that before, and I never want to hear that ever again."

"Oh my god..." Donna was speechless.

"She still has scars from it," Emrys said, not seeming to have heard Donna. "But I don't remember too much after that... Just Karlex getting us out of there, because I was in shock and Seren had a very ugly chemical burn on her arm, not to mention a few minor injuries from before we got there. When I went back the next day, the place was levelled, and I mean _**levelled**_. Just a big bare patch of land. Only dust was left..."

Donna realized that the trio of Time Lords probably had even more secrets, and something told her that those secrets wouldn't stay that way forever.

Yet, at the same time, Donna remembered how Seren had agreed to let Jenny 'adopt' her as a sister, and she had to wonder whether maybe bad things had to happen in order to fully appreciate all the good.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**Ok, so I put a little bit more emphasis on Seren that I meant to... But in my defence, I felt it necessary to help you guys get a better understanding of Emrys, because I felt like I was kinda neglecting him. Plus, it felt right to have Donna be the one he first connects with outside of their Trio, seeing as she's going to be playing a part in a few of the things to come... I've got like, five plots going at one time, and that's ignoring the bigger ones that haven't fully gotten into play yet. The list is as follows:**

**-Karlex's dynamics with the other members of the TARDIS crew (specifically Jack, Seren, and later the Doctor)**

**-Seren's and Emrys' little 'tip-toe about each' other deal**

**-What Rose is hiding (yes, she's hiding something. It's one of the still open challenges)**

**-The Doctor's and Rose's relationship (It's a 10/Rose fic. This is a vital plot in these things)**

**-The overall dynamics of the TARDIS crew (emphasis on Jenny's and Seren's comradeship)**


End file.
